A new specialized book could become a global reference for the field of star formation. Written by Enrique Vázquez Semadeni, a researcher at UNAM Morelia, the book explores how gas flows in our galaxy and how this leads to the birth of new stars.
“I’m incredibly excited,” said Vázquez Semadeni, part of the physics of the interstellar medium group at the Institute of Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics (IRyA). “I hope it helps unify the community’s understanding of the topics covered in the book, many of which we have developed in our research group.”
Stars are born in enormous clouds of gas and dust called molecular clouds. The star formation process is part of a longer cycle in which clouds form, produce many stars, and are then destroyed by the energy that the stars themselves inject into the cloud. The book discusses these topics broadly and in depth, offering a contemporary perspective on the underlying theoretical foundations.
Writing a book requires a lot of motivation, and sometimes a little push. “For about 20 years I had been toying with the idea of writing a book about turbulence in the interstellar medium,” the author said. “Years later, an American colleague suggested that one of the specialists in the field write a book together. That motivated me, and I started looking for publishers. Finally, in 2016, I signed a contract with IOP Publishing, the publisher of the Astrophysical Journal.”
But right at the same time, Enrique Vázquez Semadeni was appointed Director of the IRyA for the 2015–2019 term, “which entailed a heavy workload,” he said. “This significantly delayed me until my term ended. Even afterward, the hardest part was finding the time to write it, since at that time I had three graduate students working on their theses with me. Finally, as I progressed and saw the end approaching, I decided to start putting other activities aside.”
Despite the challenges, the book's publication is very exciting for the researcher because, as he said, “it proposes a new paradigm and a different way of studying star formation than that presented in other books on the subject, even recent ones.” He emphasized that “it is very important for Mexican researchers to produce this type of work. If a book aimed at graduate students and researchers becomes a reference on the topic, it places the authors and the Mexican scientific community at the forefront of research in this field.”
Photos: Enrique Vázquez Semadeni and his book Interstellar Flow and Star Formation. Credit: Enrique Vázquez Semadeni
Book reference
Vázquez-Semadeni, E. (2025). Interstellar Flow and Star Formation. IOP Publishing Ltd. Online ISBN: 978-0-7503-1290-5. Print ISBN: 978-0-7503-1291-2. https://iopscience.iop.org/book/mono/978-0-7503-1290-5
Enrique Vázquez Semadeni’s career
Enrique Vázquez Semadeni holds a degree in Physics from the Faculty of Sciences at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. He has made significant contributions to the field of star formation in our Galaxy and its relationship to turbulence, thermodynamics, and magnetohydrodynamics in the interstellar medium.
He has studied the life cycle of molecular clouds, where stars are born in galaxies, from their formation and growth to the period when they form stars and are finally destroyed by the energy injection of the stars themselves, and how this process controls the rate of star formation in galaxies. He is also one of the leading proponents of a new paradigm for the structure, dynamics, and evolution of molecular clouds, in which the clouds are in a process of global and hierarchical gravitational contraction, rather than being close to equilibrium.
Enrique Vázquez Semadeni has received the Jorge Lomnitz Adler Prize from the Institute of Physics at UNAM, the State Prize for Scientific and Humanistic Research, awarded by the Michoacán State Council of Science and Technology, the Scientific Research Prize, awarded by the Mexican Physics Society, and in 2021 he was recognized with the National University Prize in the area of research in the exact sciences. He was Director of the Institute of Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics from 2015 to 2019.
About IRyA, UNAM
The Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica (IRyA), or Institute for Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics is an academic unit at UNAM, Campus Morelia, Mexico. We perform high-level and high-impact research in the areas of interstellar medium, star formation, evolved stars, high energy astrophysics, Galactic dynamics and structure, extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. We contribute to the education of high-level human resources through a postgraduate program, and we have close contact with society through diverse outreach programs.
If you are interested in our Institute, visit the English version of our webpage, www.irya.unam.mx/web/en
Media contact:
Dr. René A. Ortega Minakata
Outreach and Science Communication
IRyA UNAM Campus Morelia
Text: René A. Ortega Minakata, IRyA UNAM.